Demographics Shifts Aren’t Just about Staffing. Clients Are Changing Too.
When it comes to bridging the generation gap, most accounting firms focus on what it means for their staff and their own firms.
But there’s another dimension to the demographic shifts that are bringing Gen X’ers and Millennials into positions of influence — the shifting client base.
In this 3:28-minute clip, Teresa Mackintosh, senior vice president and general manager for workflow and service solutions in the Americas Professional Division of Thomson Reuters’ tax and accounting unit, explains how those demographic trends are changing the client of the future.
Today, she notes, the workforce is made up of 48% Gen X’ers, 38% Baby Boomers, 10% Millennials, and a few Traditionalists. But that’s not at all the client base for today’s CPA firms.
According to data from Thomson Reuters, the aging client base is much more pronounced than the aging workforce.
| Generation |
% of Workforce
|
% of Client Base
|
| Traditionalists (62+) |
4%
|
7%
|
| Baby Boomers (44-61) |
38%
|
87%
|
| Generation X (28-43) |
48%
|
6%
|
| Millennials (Under 28) |
10%
|
0%
|
“As a whole,” she says, “firms are not successfully serving that layer of younger demographic.” If firms don’t try to capture that generation today, she wonders, will they be there as a market in the future? “We really need to worry today about what clients will need tomorrow?”
More from Mackintosh here:
- Message to Accountants: Master the Pace of Change or Get Left Behind [VIDEO]
- How to Find Opportunity in the New Normal
See more videos at the YouTube CPA Trendlines channel here.
